At any rate, I'd always just assumed Cicero Grimes was merely the name of the character from the classic 1967 Paul Newman movie "Hombre", until last night I was watching an old 1958 b&w Gunsmoke episode titled "Joe Phy". There was a character in it named Cicero Grimes, a character a far cry from the Hombre one. So that got me wondering where that name really came from because Gunsmoke always was pretty liberal about stealing actual western character names, and I found out this interesting fact: Cicero Grimes was the name of an actual outlaw (not much like Hombre, either), one of a trio of famous 1882 Arizona train (?) robbers. They got caught and his two accomplices (who had killed people in the course of the robbery) were hanged by a mob. Cicero made an impassioned plea on his own behalf, and a local lawyer went on about him for near two hours. At the end of the story he was awaiting trial.

Every day you learn something new from horse racing!

Kind of hard to read (use + liberally), but it's the "Arizona Express Robbery" story down in the 2nd column.

And PS, another thing that Gunsmoke got me wondering, how many times over the 20 years did Matt officially get shot in the left shoulder? The thing must have been nothing but bone fragments floating around loose by the time he retired.

Good stuff Terry. Yes, Mel owned the horse and he also named the horse after the character from the movie Hombre. Richard Boone was the actor. We also owned a horse named Ricky Roma, named after Al Pacino's character in Glen Gary Glen Ross. Unfortunately, he broke down in his debut race. He might have been a good one as he was training well and had the lead in the race.

This was and is my favorite horse, and I still own him having retired him to a farm near me. My grandchildren love him and look forward to our visits to the farm so they can give him carrots. He is my favorite not because he won 10 races for me, but because of the heart he displayed with all the physical issues he had to deal with before he ever ran a race. I bought him for $3,700 at the Florida 2 year olds in training sale. When the vet examined him they found a bone spur/chip in his ankle and I could have voided the sale. I decided to keep him anyway because he impressed me on the track and it was the smallest amount of money I ever spent on a horse period. While in training at Arlington getting him ready for his first race he collapsed walking to the track. He was diagnosed with EPM and we were not sure he would ever make it to the race track. We treated him for his EPM (very expensive) and got him to the track. I did this every year I owned him because the symptoms kept reoccurring. He trained well and ran 2nd in his debut and broke his Maiden in his second race. Despite having these physical issues that had to be dealt with on a constant basis he overcame them and won 10 races for me in spite of long regular layoffs. I finally lost him to a claim and claimed him back for $3,000 less. I gave him a little break and won the very next race. I ran him 2 more times and his ankle was getting worse so I decided to retire him instead of risking having him break down.

Terry, I was always aware of both Cicero Grimes, Gunsmoke (loved the series) and Hombre (one of my two favorite westerns ever). I named him after the Hombre character. Never new there was a real outlaw with that name, learned something new today.

How caring of you to make a home for him in his retirement. Saw the replay from Shakopee... gritty and never packed his bags. That is how I remember him. Bred for speed up and down and nothing fancy. Good story.

Very Caring Joe. And it's not limited to Cicero G. A.k.a. Cis cis Cicero...One of the most caring families I have ever known. His niece is actually taking care of Rosie Homeisters little girl while she rides....Just good, good people !